Bill Murray is still reflecting on his inappropriate behavior, which led to a production shutdown on the Searchlight Pictures' film "Being Mortal" last week.
On Saturday, the actor told CNBC's Becky Quick that he had a "difference of opinion" with a woman he was working with on the film, saying, "I did something I thought was funny and it wasn't taken that way."
Murray said he has spent the last week thinking about the incident. He did not elaborate on what was said or to whom.
"As of now we are talking and we are trying to make peace with each other," Murray said in an interview during CNBC's exclusive streaming coverage of the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting. "We are both professionals, we like each others' work, we like each other I think and if we can't really get along and trust each other there's no point in going further working together or making the movie as well. It's been quite an education for me."
"Being Mortal" is based on Atul Gawande's nonfiction book "Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End" and stars Murray alongside Aziz Ansari and Seth Rogan. The film was about halfway completed before production was halted. It is slated for release in 2023, but it is unclear if Murray will continue on with the project.
He said he was optimistic that "we are going to make peace" and that production will restart, but noted that he'll only do so if the woman involved in the incident is comfortable doing so.
"I think it's a sad dog that can't learn anymore," Murray said of learning from his mistakes. "That's a really sad puppy that can't learn anymore. I don't want to be that sad dog and I have no intention of it."
"What would make me the happiest would be to put my boots on and for both of us to go back into work and be able to trust each other and work at the work that we've both spent a lot of time developing the skill of," he said.
It’s been two years since the pandemic and the murder of George Floyd made it impossible for many Americans to ignore the hold racism has on American institutions. The Covid-19 crisis unearthed deep inequities in the healthcare system—but widespread change has yet to come. To shine a light on these continuing issues, Oprah executive produced an eye-opening new documentary, The Color of Care.
The film, which premieres May 1 on the Smithsonian Channel, focuses on the stories of families who lost loved ones during the pandemic, including one that led Oprah to the project: “I read a story about Gary Fowler, a Black man who died in his home because no hospital would treat him despite his Covid-19 symptoms,” she says. “This film is my way of doing something, with the intention that the stories we share serve as both a warning and foster a deeper understanding of what changes need to take place to better serve us all.”
Oprah called on Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning director Yance Ford to amplify these stories. Ford previously directed the true-crime documentary Strong Island, which tells the story of his brother William’s killing at the hands of a white man who was acquitted on the claim of self-defense. Ford tapped medical experts including Neel Shah, MD, chief medical officer at Maven Clinic and an assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School, to unravel how structural racism in the healthcare system can negatively impact health outcomes—and for some, be a death sentence.
Director Yance Ford at the premiere screening of The Color of Care.
Larry French//Getty Images
Both Ford and Dr. Shah spoke to us about their motivations for participating in the documentary, what it was like on set, and what they hope people will take away from The Color of Care.
The film sheds light on how the healthcare system works—and how it doesn’t.
“When you see something that gives you the opportunity to expose the function of something as old as racial inequities in healthcare, it’s an opportunity to make a difference in our culture,” Ford says. He was excited to be part of a project that would uncover the systemic problems—but he also couldn’t say no to working on something with Ms. Winfrey herself. “Anyone who gets a call from Oprah Winfrey, who has been responsible for so much enlightening, meaningful, important content in our culture—that’s a day you’ll never forget."
Ford reached out to Dr. Shah just a few months into the pandemic. “At the time, I was a doctor on the front lines, but was also doing research into racial inequity in maternal health,” Dr. Shah says. While he was apprehensive about being on camera—and whether he was even the right expert having never firsthand experienced healthcare inequity—Ford convinced him.
Dr. Neel Shah gives medical commentary in The Color of Care.
Smithsonian Channel/Harpo Productions
“Dr. Shah is able to articulate a lot of things about medicine and the way the institution of medicine works in really accessible ways,” Ford says. This clear communication from many of the participants is what makes the film so impactful, according to Dr. Shah. “Part of its power is that it has an unflinching look at these families who were directly impacted, but it also has a number of people who occupy leadership positions in American medicine talking about what they were seeing in honest terms,” he says.
Progress means being willing to be uncomfortable.
For the families sharing their stories, empathy was the most important piece. “It’s always humbling when people are able to share their fond memories of a loved one they’ve lost because it brings that person back to life in a way that very few other things can,” Ford says.
“I want the next generation of doctors to be the end of health inequities.” —Yance Ford
On the other hand, getting to the bottom of injustice created distinctly difficult conversations, too. “The only way you get progress is by leaning into that kind of discomfort,” Dr. Shah says. “I’m a person of color, but I don’t have the complete sense of what it’s like to be one of the impacted families. Talking in frank terms about racism inside the institutions that I’m part of leading is uncomfortable, and I think that that’s what progress requires.” Still, Ford’s compassionate aura led to an open environment. “Somehow, despite all this injustice and these wrenching stories, he approached the entire thing with incredible empathy for everybody, which made me as comfortable as I could being frank and critical,” Dr. Shah says.
Real systemic change is possible.
Even amid such heavy subject matter, both Ford and Dr. Shah are optimistic. “I don’t think that people will leave the film demoralized,” says Dr. Shah. "I think the opposite. It lands on a rallying cry. The reason it works is because there’s such sharp moral clarity depicted.” Part of that clarity comes from acknowledging the collective instead of the individual. “When we think about institutions in our country, we tend to think about our individual interactions,” Ford explains. “But it’s not about finger-pointing or wanting to have villains or heroes. The doctors and other healthcare providers, they’re caught in the same system. If we can all together recognize and admit that the system exists and we’re functioning within it, we can all together try to figure out our way out of it.”
“The only way you get progress is by leaning into discomfort.” —Dr. Shah
Dr. Shah echoes a similar idea. “A bad system will beat a good person every time. When bad things happen, you think, Well, that was just not a good hospital. But this really shows a pattern that affects different people in communities across the country. The one [thing] they have in common is they’re people of color,” he says.
“I want the next generation of doctors to be the end of health inequities," says Ford. “There are all sorts of reasons for hope after watching this film. There are all sorts of reasons for action. As Oprah says, change is the only cure for this. It’s important to remember that.”
Watch The Color of Care on the Smithsonian Channelon May 1, 2022, at 8:00 PM EST/7:00 PM CST.
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After all the hallelujahs about the return of theatrical at CinemaCon this past week, the major studios skipped out on programming any new wide releases this weekend. All of this is resulting in a marketplace which is seeing an estimated $64M in total ticket sales, down 33% from last weekend. Ugh. In regards to when the majors will sit on the sidelines again this year, there’s June 3, and possibly Aug. 12 (Searchlight is holding the date for an untitled wide entry).
If it feels like a desert at the multiplex, get ready for the monsoon on Thursday night, with Disney/Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which is expected to rain down anywhere from $150M-$200M. Tracking sees it at a minimum of $150M; it wouldn’t be shocking if the pic gets to $200M, but Disney doesn’t want to get over its skis. Already, Doctor Strange 2 is seeing the best presales of the year, higher than The Batman, with $42M. This is all the start of a very rich summer, and after the exuberant response of Top Gun: Maverick out of CinemaCon, Tom Cruise has to be in store for the biggest global and domestic opening of his career, overtaking War of the Worlds ($64.8M, his highest domestic) and The Mummy ($172.3M, the 3x Oscar nominee’s biggest worldwide debut).
As such, this weekend will see Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guysat No. 1 again in weekend 2, with $14.4M, -40%, for a ten-day total by tomorrow of $42.7M. With nothing else on the marquee, it wouldn’t be surprising after matinees today if this goes higher. And all the other family fare is holding on to their top spots, i.e. Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is eyeing a fourth weekend of $9.7M in 2nd, -38%, for a running total of $159.3M, and Warner Bros.’ Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,with an estimated $7.5M in weekend 3 in 3rd, -46%, with a running cume of $78.8M by EOD Sunday.
Continuing to show proof that there’s an appetite for original fare at the box office is the amazing hold by A24’s Everything EverywhereAll at Once,which is seeing $5.3M in weekend 6, dipping a great 2%, for a running total of $35.2M. This AGBO production is easily headed to $40M+. Forget that, some say $50M, which could mean it possibly topples A24’s highest-grossing movie of all-time, Uncut Gems ($50M).
Open Road is zigging to the major studio’s zagging, putting out their wide entry of Liam Neeson’s action movie, Memory, from director Martin Campbell, which is eyeing $3.1M at 2,555. While I’m sure exhibition is thankful for new product, what’s upsetting here is that in an improved marketplace, the feature is doing similar business to what other Neeson Open Road pics were doing when NYC and LA were closed during Covid, i.e. The Marksman ($3.1M) and Honest Thief ($4.1M).
Memory‘s top five markets yesterday, in a day that took $1.1M, were Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, Dallas – Ft Worth and Chicago, with the day’s top-grossing cinema being the iPic Theater at Fulton Market in Manhattan.
Well, it’s all about home ancillaries and dudes for these Neeson cookie cutter action titles. Critics have had enough of the Neeson-with-a-gun pics at 29% Rotten, and those who decided to show up and sit in the dark and eat popcorn for close to two hours gave it 66% and a 49% on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak. Jeez.
Turnout was men at 51%, 84% over 25, and 46% over 45. Diversity demos were 49% Caucasian, 20% Hispanic and Latino, 20% Black, & 11% Asian/other. The most amount of money this pic is seeing came from West and Southeast. RelishMix says that social media awareness on Memory “are well under genre norms for action thrillers at 18.6M across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.”
Ahead of opening, the social media analytics corp said, “Chatter runs mixed, with expectations that are crystal clear — on any Neeson film with the assumption that someone will be kidnapped and that ‘we’ll bring them back’. The storyline and filmmaking components are incidental for these super fans, who also feel that Neeson would make for a perfect Batman with his voice, plus other chatter about his stockpile of burner phones. Super fans also put Neeson and Denzel Washington as ‘unironically the best action stars in recent time’. Fans are exposing the secret algorithm behind this film; Taken + Unknown=Memory… and, Memento ÷ Unknown = Memory.”
Focus Features’ Viking epic The Northmanis seeing a second weekend that’s -51%, with $6M for a ten-day of $22.5M.
Also trying to fill the gap at the weekend is the Telugu language action drama Acharya, which is poised to earn an estimated $2M at 396 theaters in 117 markets. The pic did see some big numbers in NYC, Dallas, San Francisco, Atlanta, Houston, Seattle, Charlotte, and Baltimore. The Koratala Siva written and directed movie centers around a Naxalite-turned-social reformer who launches a fight against the Endowments Department over misappropriation of temple funds and donations.
Lionsgate’s Nic Cage satireUnbearable Weight of Massive Talentis looking at $3.6M in weekend 2, -49%, a 10-day of $13.1M for what appears to be a $20M final domestic gross when all is said and done.
Some thoughts coming away from this at CinemaCon: Despite the movie’s upsetting opening following its vibrant world premiere at SXSW, rival distributors who’ve handled similar product believe this movie stands to overindex in home entertainment, which is Cage’s bread and butter.
Even though Cage is arguably on an upswing, career-wise, post his critically acclaimed Pig, he has been in a funk at the box office for quite some time; his last live-action tentpole being 2007’s National Treasure: Book of Secrets ($220M domestic, $459M WW). Hence, the limited reach for this great, critically acclaimed (87% certified fresh) comedy, which stokes audiences who finally turn out for it. If Neeson did a self-parody comedy, we’d expect similar results.
Still, thumbs up to Lionsgate for putting this movie out theatrically, and not jettisoning it to PVOD or streaming. Why’s that? Odds are history will be on Unbearable Weight‘s side, and that it will turn into a cult classic in the same breath as This IsSpinal Tap ($4.7M domestic by 1984 standards) and The Big Lebowski ($18.2M in 1998 bucks). If this pic was a straight-to-home release, it wouldn’t have that resonance.
1.) The Bad Guys(Uni) 4,042 (+34) Theaters, Fri $3.7M (-54%), 3-day $14.4M (-40%)/Total $42.7M/Wk 2
2.) Sonic the Hedgehog 2(Par) 3,801 (-8) theaters, Fri $2.5M (-37%), 3-day $9.7M (-38%)/Total $159.3M/Wk 4
“Gilded Glamour,” the dress code of the 2022 Met Gala, scheduled to take place on Monday, throws wide the doors of sartorial imagination. The reference is rather self-reflective, for one of the biggest and most exclusive fundraisers in the United States. The Gilded Age, the last thirty years or so of the nineteenth century, was characterized in the U.S. by the rise of great industrial and financial wealth for some, and increasing poverty for others. Everyday fashion for the elite was marked by excess. Electric and steam-powered looms enabled new textile varieties, synthetic dyes expanded popular color palates, and hats rose to ridiculous heights.
Kate Feering Strong photographed by Jose Maria Mora, 1883. Public Domain/Ephemeral New York.
Although I suspect the stars of 2022 may interpret the dress code simply, as an invitation to get very, very fancy, their historical analogs—the rich people who attended balls and soirées in the late nineteenth century—dressed not just luxuriously, but oddly, with ample use of personality and humor. Think dead animals, precise copying of historical references, and the occasional flash of techno-wizardry. In case anyone with a ticket for Monday’s ball is still looking for inspiration, here are a few choice costume suggestions from balls of the era, plus one counterexample: a costume to avoid.
Miss Kate Feering Strong wore this heavily-taxidermied number to the premier New York City social event of the 1880s, Willie and Alva Vanderbilt’s 5th Avenue fancy-dress ball, which doubled as a housewarming. (The railroad-baron Russells’ party in the season finale of HBO’s The Gilded Age is based on the Vanderbilt Ball—but, disappointingly, features zero cat heads.)
In 1883, Strong’s likeness was captured by the premier photographer of the elite, Jose Maria Mora, a dapper Cuban refugee hired to record the visual details of the party. The New York Times report on the party confirms that Strong’s headdress was indeed fashioned from a “stiffened white cat’s skin,” with a tail pendant trailing behind. The blue ribbon tied around Strong’s neck like a collar has printed on it, possibly in diamonds, “PUSS”—Strong’s nickname and the inspiration for her ball apparel.
Actress Lillian Russell in a very feathery hat, 1898.Library of Congress.
Mora almost certainly did not neglect to capture the full-length view of Strong’s costume, but I know of no surviving photograph recording the innovation of the skirt. According to the Times, “The overskirt was made entirely of white cats’ tails sewed on a dark background.” Did you ever see a skirt sewn together out of old neckties, faddish among thrift-shop devotees and Sassy Magazine subscribers, in the mid-1990s? Like that, but with cat tails.
If contemporary Gala designers like Moschino or Theophilio balk at incorporating cat parts into a design, accessorizing with most any portion of a bird would also be appropriate for the “Gilded Glamour” theme. Milliners included entire bodies of birds on towering ecosystems of hats in Great Britain and the U.S. during this period, while other designers fashioned earrings from hummingbird heads and beaks. However, many of the species whose feathers were preferred by Gilded Age gals, such as the snowy egret or great heron, are now protected by the 1918 U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act, passed in response to these turn-of-the-century hat bird massacres.
While Miss Strong’s feline fancy-dress choice was difficult to outshine at the Vanderbilt Ball, the hostess’s sister-in-law managed. Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt commissioned haute couture designer Charles Frederick Worth to create a gown inspired by the new craze: electricity. Thomas Alva Edison had just patented his light bulb the year before. This very gilded gown (you can see it in the image at the top of this page, or in color at this link) consists of golden satin overlaid on blue velvet, accented with shimmering lightning bolts and starbursts stitched in metallic beads, thread, tassels, and diamonds. Diamonds also covered the elaborate headdress. A hidden battery allowed Alice to illuminate the ensemble with the flick of a switch, a feat barely short of magic in 1883.
You might assume that kitschy-costume aficionado Katy Perry would be out of the running for this resplendent option. She already wore a lit-chandelier costume to the 2019 Met Gala, with its “Camp: Notes on Fashion” dress code, referencing Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay. But actually, doubling down would only increase the historical authenticity, as Gilded Age elite often repeated their greatest wardrobe hits, including costumes.
Ann Brice as Velasquez’ Infanta Margarita, 1897.
The 2022 Met Gala theme is “In America: An Anthology of Fashion.” But the spelling of the dress code, with its included “u,” evokes British and European influences. At “fancy-dress balls,” a common trope was to mimic apparel captured in renowned portraits of aristocrats of the past. For the 1897 Bradley-Martin Ball, considered “the last gasp” of the Gilded Age, the hosts claimed the event’s very short notice would stimulate the local economy, suffering amidst repeated economic upheavals blamed on volatile stock markets and irresponsible railroad investments. Despite the mere two weeks’ lead time, socialite Kate Brice managed to telegraph directives to the much-favored designer Charles Frederick Worth. Worth hurriedly copied the outfit worn by Philip IV’s daughter, the Infanta Margarita, in a 1656 painting by Diego Velasquez.
Note: when dressing from a painting, heed the warning in the 1938 gothic novel Rebecca, and be sure not to accidentally copy a costume once worn by your rich husband’s murdered first wife. How embarrassing!
James L. Breese as the Duc de Guise at the Bradley Martin Ball, 1897. Public domain/Wikimedia Commons.
Men of leisure costumed up quite as much as did the ladies. James L. Breese arrived at the Bradley-Martin Ball as a 17th-century duke, in white corded silk embroidered with pearls and silver lace and a delicate French-heeled shoe. His sword, encased in a silk scabbard, was literally gilded. Breese boasted of his outfit’s strict authenticity, but reportage on male finery was more ambivalent by the end of the century, complimenting the staid uniforms of policemen acting as security at the ball over satin, pastel-colored brocade like Breese’s. The Times asserted that the costumed men were “more disguised than the women” and poked fun at the prominent men wearing tights and jewels: “In contrast with the men who were there to guard them, these interesting and powerful gentlemen looked rather small.” Ideas of power and manhood were changing at the turn of the century. In the 1890s, the virtues accorded to manliness—restraint and studied refinement—made way for the cultural attributes of masculinity, a new term indicating strength, virility, and a disdain for feminine pursuits, including costuming. The Gilded Age was a rare opportunity for post-French-Revolution men to preen like peacocks, but that window closed quickly.
If by 1897, fewer Louis XVIs showed up to dance with the inevitable Marie Antoinettes, the men who did come to fancy-dress balls still took masquerade to heart. Law clerk Richard Welling offers an excellent example of what not to wear today, also from the Bradley-Martin Ball. Welling, on the periphery of the upper echelon, confessed to his diary that anticipation of the event made his “[b]owels shake about.” But he persisted, convincing a Natural History Museum curator and Harvard professor to provide “an authoritative drawing” of the seventeenth-century Algonquin Chief Miantonomah for Welling’s mimicry.
Law clerk Richard Welling as Algonquin Chief Miantonomah, 1897, photo by Benjamin Falk. Public domain.
For two weeks, Welling was preoccupied with details—an “Indian wig,” furs and robes, necklaces, and buckskin shirt, all fretted over quite earnestly, with admissions that he did “debate with myself whether I can carry it out.” Like pretty much all examples of cultural appropriation, Welling’s outfit underscored the Gilded Age delight in white conquest over minority groups. He featured a necklace comprised of deer teeth, bear claws, shells and beads, all objects purportedly exchanged between the chief and Welling’s own ancestor, who stole land from the Algonquins in Rhode Island. Dear celebs: Unless you are a member of the Algonquin tribe yourself, this is certainly one Gilded Age costume to strike off the list.
Of course, most Gilded Age Americans were not rich, and it wasn’t only the rich who loved a masquerade. New York City’s French Ball took place at auditoriums such as the Metropolitan Opera House and Madison Square Garden from 1866 to 1901, and was just one of the premier public events held around Mardi Gras season, as aspects of New Orleans’ great event caught on in other cities. According to historian Timothy Gilfoyle, the French Ball attracted thousands of ticketed participants, from “Wall Street businessmen to prostitutes and gay drag queens.” The Times called the event “vice’s carnival.” Popular costumes here tended to reveal more of their wearers than those on 5th Avenue, including (per scandalized reports) a fairy whose costume was “principally a set of wings” and one ballerina with nothing on under her tutu. Reports of casual French Ball activities included tabletop can-can dancing.
TL:DR: Here are my suggestions for Met Gala goers who want to do something new, and historically accurate, this year: Do wear full tights, regardless of gender, unless you wish to let your balletic undercarriage breathe. Dress from famous portraits, but be certain not to imitate your date’s ex by mistake. Evoke recent technology, available only to the very rich (perhaps a rendition of Jeff Bezos’ ultra-phallic rocket?). Be sure any dead animal parts are properly treated, to avoid embarrassing odors, and that they do not belong to any protected species. When in doubt, consult Ardern Holt’s popular Fancy Dresses Described; or, what to wear to fancy-dress balls, updated regularly between 1879 and 1896 (after which point, most of high society snubbed the fancy-dress ball). And finally, even though the Gilded Age crowd fully embraced cultural appropriation, just don’t. There are limits in the pursuit of historical authenticity.
The TV personality and producer announced the birth of his second child, a girl named Lucy Eve Cohen, on Friday.
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“I’m so happy,” the “Watch What Happens Live!” host wrote on Instagram alongside a photograph of them together.
Lucy Eve weighed 8 pounds, 13 ounces, and arrived via surrogate.
Andy Cohen, right, announced the birth of his daughter, Lucy Eve, who will be a little sister to his son, Benjamin Allen, left.
via Associated Press
Cohen, 53, welcomed his first child, Benjamin Allen Cohen, also via surrogate in 2019. Benjamin Allen “can’t wait to meet” Lucy Eve, Cohen wrote.
“Thank you to my rock star surrogate (ALL surrogates are rockstars, by the way) and everyone who helped make this miracle happen,” he added.
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Friends were thrilled with the news.
“Amazing! Congratulations! Welcome Lucy!!!!” CNN’s Anderson Cooper wrote in the comments. Actor Sarah Jessica Parker said “we are madly in love with you already.”
Anna Wintour was brought to tears when she spoke at her friend and former colleague Andre Leon Talley’s funeral at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem on Friday.
“She talked about their friendship,” a source who attended the service told Page Six. “But what took her over was when she told the story about Andre crossing the Atlantic to be with her when her mother died.” The source told us, “Her words were: ‘He crossed the Atlantic to be with me when my mother died,’ and that’s when she welled up.”
“It was very intentional as if she wanted everyone to see her emotions,” the source said –adding that Wintour made sure to look at attendees as she read. The Vogue icon did not wear her signature shades when she spoke, we hear.
Another source, who described the memorial as a “traditional Black homegoing celebration,” said Wintour “didn’t break down, but she had to pause after she started talking about her mother.”
Anna Wintour is seen resting her head with another guest at André Leon Talley’s Celebration of Life.Getty Images for the Estate of ATalley died in January at the age of 73.Cindy OrdThe friends and colleagues were snapped together above in 1999.Getty Images
“It was clear she was having a hard time getting through it. I don’t think she was expecting to cry, but she definitely got emotional. Her speech was definitely the most heartfelt,” they said.
Designer Marc Jacobs and supermodel Naomi Campbell also “cried a little” during their speeches, we’re told.
But Talley’s funeral wasn’t all tears, and it felt like a New York Fashion Week reunion. Sources told us Diane von Furstenberg organized the service and “it was literally like a fashion show,” the second source said.
Naomi Campbell arrives at André Leon Talley’s funeral.Matthew McDermott
“There were four publicists at the door with iPads checking names. There were photographers, a big white vintage Rolls Royce that Naomi arrived and left in, and all of the fashion people were there,” they said.
Campbell “looked like a goddess” in a big white fur and hat, and said Talley would’ve wanted that during her speech, we’re told. The supermodel said of her late friend, “When we felt we couldn’t get through a door that was closed to us, he pushed it open for me and got me to do things I didn’t think I could.”
We hear that DVF said of Talley: “You had more class and elegance than anyone I’ve ever met. We laughed and sometimes fought, as you weren’t always easy,” which got laughs from his friends in the crowd.
Carolina Herrera said in remembrance, “You were the fashion historian of our time.”
“What took her over was when she told the story about Andre crossing the Atlantic to be with her when her mother died,” a source at the ceremony told Page Six.Ron Galella Collection via Getty
Jacobs told the gathering, “This past month I’ve been rereading all of his wonderful letters and notes that I treasure… Letters he wrote on his oversized stationary and bold handwriting. When emails first arrived, his notes were filled with capitals and colorful emojis, he used all the symbols. He was my high priest of fashion.”
Singer Valerie Simpson spoke about how Talley loved to party at her Upper Westside restaurant, Sugar Bar, where he’d play the tambourine. She then played the piano and sang “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing.”
Talley’s pastor, Rev. Calvin Butts, delivered the eulogy, and he had the congregation — including Harlem’s Bevy Smith — “feeling the spirit in church.”
“People were standing up and clapping and singing along to the gospel choir. It was a very Black baptist church experience,” the second source said.
Grace Coddington, Sandra Bernhard, Bethann Hardison, Kate Moss, Gayle King, Fashion Bomb editor Claire Sulmers, Kimora Lee Simmons, Dario Calmese and Native Son founder Emil Wilbekin were a few of the other mourners who packed the church.
A portrait of Talley at the late fashion icon’s longtime house of worship, The Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem.Matthew McDermott
Talley died Jan. 18 at the age of 73. He joined Vogue in 1983 as fashion news director and eventually became the magazine’s first Black creative director and, later its editor-at-large.
“Amidst a lifetime of memories of Andre, I will never forget his kindness, his chivalry, and his friendship,” Wintour wrote in Vogue.
Keanu Reeves is back to crushing skulls and making movie theater owners scream with adoration, as the star closed CinemaCon with a first look at “John Wick: Chapter 4.”
Appearing during the Lionsgate presentation at the annual exhibition trade show, Reeves was greeted with lusty applause and chants of “you’re the man!” from attendees.
The next installment once again teams Reeves with stuntman-turned-director Chad Stahelski. Lionsgate has high hopes for “John Wick: Chapter 4,” considering each chapter in the franchise has outgrossed its predecessor. The original “John Wick” grossed $86 million worldwide in 2014 followed by $171.5 million for “John Wick: Chapter 2” in 2017 and $327.3 million for “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” in 2019.
In the footage screened, Wick is on his perpetual revenge tour — this time taking on a decidedly lone ninja vibe — seen punching a wooden post to the point of his knuckles bleeding as co-star Laurence Fishburne acts as his hype man.
“I want you to find peace, John,” an off-screen voice booms as a montage plays of Reeves slaying his enemies, “but the only path this leads to is death.”
In the heart-pounding final moments of the trailer, Reeves takes on two baddies in the lobby of an art gallery — brutalizing them with nunchucks in a relentless, face-busting, merry-go-round motion.
Joining Reeves in “John Wick: Chapter 4” are Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, Donnie Yen, Shamier Anderson, Bill Skarsgård, Hiroyuki Sanada, Scott Adkins and Clancy Brown. Franchise mainstay Ian McShane is back as Winston, the manager of the Continental Hotel. One person not returning to the franchise is Halle Berry, who debuted as Sofia in “Chapter 3.”
“Sofia’s not in the next ‘John Wick’ movie,” Berry told IGN earlier this year, although the character might be getting her own spinoff film. “There could possibly be a Sofia … her own movie. So she might not be in ‘John Wick,’ but she might be doing her own thingy-thingy.”
Stahelski revealed before he started filming “John Wick: Chapter 4” that he was anxious about how to top the insane stunts of “Chapter 3,” which included one action set piece featuring samurais on horseback.
“John Wick: Chapter 4” hits theaters on May 23, 2023.
The Brit has extended his contract for the CBS late-night series for one year and will depart ahead of summer 2023.
Corden will have hosted The Late Late Show for eight and a half years by the time he departs – a major achievement.
“It’s been it’s a really hard decision to leave because I’m so immensely proud of the show. I’m thrilled to be extending [for a year],” Corden told Deadline. “I always thought I’d do it for five years and then leave and then I stayed on. I’ve really been thinking about it for a long time, thinking whether there might be one more adventure.”
Corden signed a contract to host The Late Late Show, which had been previously hosted by Ferguson, in 2014 and premiered on March 23 2015.
The Gavin & Stacey co-creator was somewhat of a surprise choice but he reinvigorated the 12:30pm timeslot on CBS and breathed new life into late-night with viral segments such as Carpool Karaoke, Drop The Mic, Spill Your Guts and Crosswalk Musical.
In fact, Corden’s Carpool Karaoke with Adele has been watched more than 250M times on YouTube, while his journey with One Direction has racked up 189M views. The Late Late Show YouTube page itself has had nearly 10B views and has over 27M subscribers, the second highest in late-night.
CBS chiefs, including President and CEO George Cheeks, CBS Entertainment President Kelly Kahl, SEVP Programming Thom Sherman and Nick Bernstein, SVP, Late-Night Programming, West Coast, were keen to keep Corden and offered a variety of deals including a three-year extension, a two-year extension and a rolling one-year deal before he made his decision. “My bosses here at CBS have been incredibly supportive and extraordinarily patient with me while I made this decision,” Corden added.
“Seven years ago, James Corden came to the U.S. and took television by storm, with huge creative and comedic swings that resonated in a big way with viewers on-air and online. From Crosswalk the Musical to the legendary Carpool Karaoke, and every unique comedy segment he introduced, James has truly reimagined many elements of the late night format. He has also been the consummate network showman, entertaining audiences from his nightly perch at Television City as well as the Tony and Grammy stage,” said Cheeks. “In my two years at CBS, I’ve had the privilege to see James’ creative genius up close and experience his valuable partnership with CBS, both as a performer and a producer. We wish he could stay longer, but we are very proud he made CBS his American home and that this partnership will extend one more season on The Late Late Show.”
Corden’s move marks the second high-profile change in late-night over the last 12 months after a relatively stable few years. Conan O’Brien recently left the space after a long career behind the desk and Jimmy Kimmel’s future is also uncertain with the comedian publicly discussing whether or not he will continue to host his ABC show.
CBS will also have to work out what they do after Corden and how they will replace him.
There’s been much speculation over the last few years whether Corden would exit The Late Late Show and return to the UK. But Corden told Deadline that he and his family “genuinely don’t know the answer to that”.
“It’s something we think about and we talk about a lot but we haven’t really made a decision on that yet. That’s the life side of things which we’ll figure out,” he added. “I love living here. I love everything it’s given. My family and I have never taken this incredible adventure for granted. Every day I drive down Sunset to work and I just think I’m from High Wycombe.”
Corden has always been an anomaly in late-night, starring in films such as Peter Rabbit, Cats and The Prom, where he received his first Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor, and hosting HBO Max’s Friends:The Reunion, while he was hosting a nightly talkshow. He is also a partner in Fulwell 73, the production company responsible for Hulu’s The Kardashians and Camila Cabello’s Cinderella and stars alongside Sally Hawkins in Amazon’s upcoming comedy drama series Mammals.
“There’s still some other things that I feel I want to do. I’d like to try and write. There’s some [stories] I’d like to tell. I’d like to see if I’m capable of it. The fact that it’s terrifying is the reason to do it,” he added.
But first, he’s got 200 more shows to go, which will take him to around 1250 since he started. Having told his staff this afternoon, Corden wanted to give his entire team a good amount of notice so that the move wasn’t a surprise.
Produced by CBS Studios and Fulwell 73, and exec produced by Rob Crabbe and Ben Winston, Corden called The Late Late Show the “most joyous working environment”.
“Out of respect for all of the [staff]. I want to tell them that now and say that we can really go into this last year with absolute enthusiasm and passion and love. These shows are not built by one person. I’m very fortunate I get to work with some people whose talents and gifts just blow my mind,” he said.
The extension also means that he’ll get to spend some time on the putting green with his friend Mark Noble, captain of his beloved West Ham United, who is retiring at the end of this season. “He’s the happiest that I’m not leaving in September because he’s desperate to get out and play some golf,” Corden laughs. “I’ll have been here for eight and a half years, he’s been at that club since he was nine. Nothing makes me happier to be thought of in the same breath as Mark Noble but I would be undeserving of such praise.”
Now, Corden and his team have to try and top their entrance – where Corden persuaded Tom Hanks to do a career retrospective with him in his opening episode, which also featured appearances from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Billy Crystal, Chris Rock and Meryl Streep.
“I’ll miss the adrenaline of thinking ‘Next week I’m going to jump out of a plane with Tom Cruise or in two weeks’ time, we’re going to drive around the White House in a car with Michelle Obama or sing Penny Lane with Paul McCartney driving down Penny Lane,” he said.
“All of my greatest ambitions for what it what [the show] could be, it’s absolutely surpassed all of them,” he added. “My intention is to try and go out in exactly the same way we came in, which is just going out with a with a bang.
Paramount Pictures added fuel to the final day of CinemaCon 2022 on Thursday by unveiling a trailer for Mission: Impossible 7, showcasing another death-defying Tom Cruise stunt and teasing Damien Chazelle’s anticipated Hollywood fable Babylon. But the true centerpiece was the first full showing of Cruise’s new Top Gun: Maverick that closed out the Thursday morning program.
The long-delayed Top Gun: Maverick, returning Tom Cruise as the ultra-gifted and confident Capt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, was originally set to hit theaters in summer 2020. The COVID-19 crisis waylaid those plans. Paramount and Skydance subsequently moved the film several more times so that it could get a proper global theatrical release.
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The decision to treat theater owners to the first screening of the movie was a way to thank them for their patience, and it appeared to pay off. But before the big debut, the presentation kicked off with an electric performance by female rap trio J.J. Fad of their hit single “Supersonic,” backed by more than a dozen dancers clad in red, white and blue sweats as footage from Par’s latest hit Sonic the Hedgehog 2 played on the big screen overhead.
Known for his CinemaCon pranks, Paramount president of domestic distribution Chris Aronson didn’t disappoint. He arrived onstage wearing the mustache and goggles that are favored by Sonic character Dr. Ivo Robotnik, played by Jim Carrey.
“Everyone awake?” Aronson asked. “Good! Welcome to Paramount Pictures, it’s so great to be back here.” Aronson arrived with good news by recounting the studio’s run of four consecutive No. 1 box office openings: Scream ($140 million thus far), Jackass Forever ($80 million), The Lost City ($130 million worldwide to date), Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (opened to record-breaking $72.1 million). “We can’t wait to keep momentum.”
He then muse that, since audiences are finally returning to theaters, “Fortune favors the bold,” adding, “But we are not completely back. Now is not the time for complacency. We must work together in every way possible.”
In doing so, he called on theater owners to meet the studios halfway (“Help us help you”) to enhance the guest experience by not playing too many trailers that wind up numbing audiences and making sure the price ratio is fair for moviegoers.
Aronson then presented footage from the studio’s 2022 and 2023 offerings, with the biggest reveal being Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, an epic about old Hollywood’s transition from the silent film era to talkies starring Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie. Not much is known about the plot specifics, but it appears to be a high-octane, razzle-dazzle drama with Pitt playing silent film star John Gilbert and Margot Robbie as icon Clara Bow. Pitt’s character, seen in several scenes in white boxers and tank top, at one point says, “When I first moved to Hollywood, the signs on all the doors said, ‘No actors and no dogs allowed.’ We changed that.”
Robbie’s Bow is shown in the preview footage on sets and dancing at a giant backyard Hollywood house party. While on set, as the camera moves in to capture her face, Robbie says, “What do you say we come in for my close-up now?”
The Babylon cast also includes Tobey Maguire, Katherine Waterston, Max Minghella, Flea, Samara Weaving, Rory Scovel, Lukas Haas, Eric Roberts, P.J. Byrne, Damon Gupton, Olivia Wilde, Spike Jonze, Phoebe Tonkin, Jean Smart, Li Jun Li, Jovan Adepo, Diego Calva, Chloe Fineman, Jeff Garlin and Troy Metcalf.
Paramount chairman Brian Robbins, in his first CinemaCon presentation, later called Chazelle’s film “brilliant” and “truly spectacular.” During his time onstage, Robbins assured theater owners how much he values the power of the big screen. He also touted the studio’s recent success The Lost City and Sonic 2, both of which played exclusively in theaters. “Theatrical films are the cornerstone of our business,” said Robbins.
Robbins then turned his attention to Cruise, calling him the studio’s most important relationship and the “hardest-working and most daring performer in Hollywood.” Unfortunately for CinemaCon attendees, Robbins confirmed that the actor would not be there in person as he was busy filming. But Cruise did deliver a “special message,” true to the compliment and his CinemaCon history.
Cut to Cruise, standing up from his seat in an antique red plane and as the camera zoomed out, it was revealed that the plane was hovering high above a canyon in South Africa. “Hey everyone,” Cruise said, with his voice muffled slightly due to the wind. “Wish I could be there with you. I’m sorry for the extra noise. As you can see, we are filming the latest installment of Mission: Impossible.”
Just then, a yellow plane appeared with helmer Christopher McQuarrie inside and he instructed Cruise that it was time to go. Before flying off, Cruise introduced the first look at the film’s trailer, followed by Top Gun: Maverick in its entirety. “Let’s all try to have a great summer. See you at the movies!”
The seventh Mission: Impossible is due out July 14, 2023, with an eighth and presumably final Cruise-led Mission due out June 28, 2024. The seventh film has been given the subtitle Dead Reckoning: Part 1.
Directed by Joseph Kosinski, the new Top Gun follows Maverick as he’s asked to train a new team of elite aviators at the behest of Val Kilmer’s Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, now a Navy admiral (Kilmer has a brief cameo). Kosinski and one of the film’s stars, Glen Powell, were in the audience.
Top Gun: Maverick will make its world premiere in San Diego on May 4 before heading to the Cannes Film Festival. It lands in theaters domestically on May 28.
The movie was the only summer tentpole screened in full for exhibitors at CinemaCon 2022, which wraps today.
